Celebrity news from Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith

Tag Archives: Disney Channel

What’s it like to work with a puppet all day? “It’s insane!” says Disney kid Cole Jensen, who has the Disney XD show “Crash & Bernstein” debuting on Monday (10/8).

“But it’s not as hard as I thought. I was prepared for something hard, but the biggest thing is helping Tim stay out of the shot.” He’s referring to “Sesame Street” and “Muppets” performer Tim Lagasse, who performs the role of Crash, a puppet who comes to life after being put together in a “Build-A-Bestie” workshop by a boy suffering from too little male companionship in a house full of females. “They said to treat him like a normal human being and be completely natural. It’s really easy,” says Cole.

Cole, who’s been seen on such shows as “Mike & Molly” and “Victorious,” is in mid-production on the first season of “Crash & Bernstein” with 11 more episodes to shoot out of 21. But there’s talk of the order being increased to 26 episodes in this first year. That’s a pretty nice vote of confidence before the show even premieres.

Just days away from completing production on his first season of the Disney Channel’s “Pair of Kings,” Adam Hicks admits he’s on a “countdown until it’s time to chill.”

The personable, red-haired actor admits coming into the show in its third season to replace Mitchel Musso, “I didn’t know what to expect, but everyone welcomed me with open arms, like a family. And I didn’t know how the fans were going to respond, but the fans have been digging it. It’s been great — keeping me busy.”

He’ll head to his home town, Las Vegas, to catch up with family and friends for awhile. As he points out, “I turned 18, so I’m living in California by myself now.” But he won’t be idle long. He’s working on the music side of his career, and open to more hiatus time opportunities.

“It’s a funny thing in this business. You get addicted to the next project and the next, and you want to keep working,” notes the actor, whose claims to fame include the big screen “How to Eat Fried Worms” and Disney XD’s “Zeke and Luther.” Hicks enjoys his “great relationship with Disney” — which keeps him busy not only with the series, but with appearances and outside activities, like today’s “TRYathlon” in which he and castmate Doc Shaw team up with the NBA’s Kevin Love to compete in a set of endurance challenges.

They’re up against fellow Disney XD stars Leo Howard and Olivia Holt from “Kickin’ It,” and Billy Unger and Spencer Boldman from ‘Lab Rats.” Also involved are three young viewers from across the country, who were selected to be contenders. And the NFL’s Arian Foster and WNBA player Candace Parker. The fun event is part of Disney Magic of Healthy Living, a program that celebrates kids and families discovering simple and fun ways to be healthy and encourages kids to try new things.

Hicks says he learned some lessons he’ll take with him, like learning to pace himself. Yes, for him that’s new.

Williams shows off an impressive range of capabilities in the Disney Channel Original movie “Let It Shine,” premiering tomorrow (6/15). But he admits he ran into an unexpected challenge in the high-energy, Cyrano de Bergerac-inspired tale that’s set in the hip hop music realm. “I lost my voice a few times. You know, naturally my voice is pretty deep, so my rapping voice was deeper, so I had to push higher to get a younger sound out of the character,” he says. “It’s tough to do. At first you think, ‘Oh, this will be fine.’ But then you realize the toll it takes on your voice over time, especially recording essentially a whole album in two weeks.”

The “Let It Shine” soundtrack features Williams on eight of the tracks, a blend of hip hop, gospel and R&B.

“I’d been familiar with the Cyrano story before. I’d kind of played around with it in my acting class, so I thought this could be interesting,” Williams explains. “When I went in and I read for it, then I really became attached to it. I really started to feel a part of the project from, I would say, the screen test, when we started mixing and matching the people together. This is the first time I’ve ever had a mix-and-match when I wasn’t sure who was going to be cast.”

Coco Jones (Disney’s “Next Big Thing”) plays Roxanne and Trevor Jackson costars. “I thought it wouldn’t work because of how tall they were, with my average height,” the 5-foot-8 Williams admits. But he’s happy with the result. “I’m really proud of how it turned out. I feel like a proud parent and a kid who’s just graduated from college at once.”